Movable arm-support for cars



(No Model.)

' G. H. POOR.

MOVABLE ARM SUPPORT FOR CARS.

No. 567,655. Patented Sept. 15, 1896.

Mei-itillNrrnn STATES Erica ATENT GEORGE I-I. POOR, OF BOSTON, MASSAOHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO GEORGE I'I. LIBBY, OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

MOVABLE ARM-SUPPORT FOR CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 567,655, dated September 15, 1896.

Application filed October 21, 1895. Serial No. 566,405. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE l-I. POOR, a citizen of the United States, residing in Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Movable Arm-Supports for Cars, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

My invention relates to an improved supporting device to be attached to the sides of open street-railway cars for the use of the conductor while collecting fares and performing other duties requiring him to stand or walk upon the running-board of such cars,

and the principal objects of the improvement are to provide, for the purposes stated, a suitable and convenient support, independently of the stanchions, movable from end to end of the car, that will enable the conductor to easily maintain his position 011 any part of the running-board and facilitate his movements. and the performance of his duties thereon. The device may also be attached to the interior of an open or closed car having a central aisle for similar uses. Owing to the special applicability of the device to an open car, it is represented as applied to such a car in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of an open car with the device attached. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the end of the rail supporting the trolley-wheel. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional View through the rail. Fig. etis a front view of the flexible loopstrap forsupporting the arm of the conductor. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the same, and Fig. 6 is a detail of a stiff hook arm-support which may be used instead of the loop.

In the several figures like numerals refer to like parts.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is an open car of the usual construction, and 2is the roof of the same. To each side of the roof, just above the side posts, is fixed a horizontal bar or rail 3 in any suitable manner, as, for example, by screws 4, passing through the rail, and blocks 5, between the rail and the side of the car. These blocks 5 offset the rail from the car, so

as to allow the frame containing the trolleywheel to run free of the car. The upper edge of the rail 3 is rounded off so as to fitinto the groove on the trolley-wheel or pulley 6 which runs on the rail.

7 is a vertical bar having its upper end bent over the rail, so as to afford bearings for each end of the axle of the trolley-wheel 6, and at its lower end it is bent under the rail and up, so as to prevent the bar and wheel from coming off the rail. Instead of the device just described, I may use aframe containing three wheels, two riding on the rail and one underneath, as shown in Fig. 1. A device for supporting the arm of the conductor is pendent from the outside of the bar '7. This device may be a flexible loop 8, of leather or other suitable material, adj ustably fastened to the strap 9, as, for example, by means of a buckle 12, to allow of its being adjusted to any desired length, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, or it maybea stiff hook 10, of metal, covered with leather, as shown in Fig. 6. In the strap connected to the loop or hook I preferably place a short length of elastic webbing or similar material, as shown at 13, Figs. 1, 4, and 5. The object of this is to make the support slightly yielding, but it is so constructed, as shown, that before the limit of elasticity is reached the strap will take the strain and prevent the webbing from being broken. At each end of the rail 3 is, 011 top thereof, a notch 11, into which the trolley 6 may be set when not in use to prevent its movement along the rail by the jarring of the car. At each end, also, 8 5 is a stop 14, to prevent the bar from running off the end of the rail. This device slides freely along the rail and assists the conductor, who supports himself by placing one arm through the loop 8 or in the hook 10, and thus 0 has both hands free for taking fares, Without being in any danger of falling from the running-board.

It might be desirable to arrange the device in the central aisle of a closed car, and I do 5 not limit the use of my invention to open cars nor to street-railway cars.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to soon rc by Letters Patent of the United States, is- 10o The combination with a track, of a trolley, In testimony whereof I have hereunto sub a bar having its upper end bent back to eonscribed my name this 16th day of October, stitute a bearing therefor and its lower end A. D. 1895.

bent around the lower edge of the track, and GEO. H. POOR. 5 a flexible support pendent from the bar, and itnesses:

having a resilient strip secured to and form- CHAS. A. KELLOGG,

ing a loop in the support. HENRY B. CHAMBERLAIN. 

